Education Writer Peg Tyre to Discuss ‘The Trouble with Boys’

October 3, 2013 | by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs

Boys begin to struggle the moment they enter a classroom.

In preschool, they’re five times more likely than girls to be expelled; in elementary school, they’re four times more likely to be diagnosed with learning disorders. They account for only 43 percent of Americans enrolled in college.

Sharing years of research from schools around the country, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peg Tyre will present The Trouble with Boys at Elmhurst College on October 8.

A nationally renowned writer and thinker about education, Tyre specializes in making complicated research and thorny education policy questions accessible to parents—the most passionate and motivated stakeholders in the national debate about education reform.

In her 2009 book The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do, Tyre notes that while the emphasis in education beginning in the 1990s was on helping girls succeed, especially in math and science, boys were increasingly lagging behind, particularly in reading and writing. That achievement gap between girls and boys continues, and boys also don’t compare favorably in other measures of academic success, such as graduation rates, school discipline and admission to college.

Much of Tyre’s research comes from her two decades in journalism, where she wrote cover stories for Newsweek and features and analysis for The New York Times. Tyre also has written for or been written about in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNN.com, Salon.com, Time.com, People, U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Post. She also is regularly asked to conduct teacher training at public and private schools around the country, and leads workshops for parents on education issues.

Tyre’s talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8, in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center. A book signing will follow the lecture. For educators, Tyre’s lecture qualifies for Continuing Professional Development Units (CPDUs). Forms will be available at the event. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available online or at the door. For more information, call (630) 617-3390.